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Upon returning from abroad, Li Minxian immediately arranged a private meeting with Wei Jinghai.

Li Minxian's private tea room is filled with the mellow aroma of aged Pu'er tea.

The old man's hands were as steady as a rock as he poured tea; at seventy years old, he had the energy and spirit of a fifty-year-old.

Wei Jinghai sat opposite him, dressed in a sharp suit, even his cufflinks reflecting a soft light with meticulous care.

“Xiao Hai, the Chamber of Commerce is about to have its leadership transition,” Li Minxian said, pushing a teacup towards him.

"Zhijin needs someone to help her."

Wei Jinghai accepted the gift with both hands, his fingertips just avoiding the old man's subtle touch: "Zhijin is exceptionally capable, I don't need to interfere."

"Is that so?" Lee Min-hyun suddenly raised his eyes, a sharp glint flashing in his cloudy pupils.

The teacup trembled slightly in Wei Jinghai's hand, and the tea almost spilled.

He didn't expect that the old man would be so well-informed about the situation in Hangzhou so soon after returning to China.

Wei Jinghai took a sip of tea, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I understand! I will definitely persuade Zhijin to come back and manage the Li Group as soon as possible."

Li Minxian lightly tapped the coffee table with his fingers, the rhythm exactly matching the closing bell of the stock market on the day Wei Mingyi jumped to his death. "Remember! The Chamber of Commerce is not a tool for you to vent your personal grievances."

The temperature in the tea room dropped sharply.

Wei Jinghai put down his teacup; the sound of the porcelain clinking together was just like the shattered watch face of his father's watch when he fell to the ground that day.

"Yes! I understand?"

Lee Min-hyun suddenly changed the subject, "Um, what's the situation with that Suning?"

"He hasn't left Hangzhou! He even registered a company called West Lake Capital in Hangzhou, clearly wanting to continue making waves in Hangzhou."

"Hmph! Just like his father, always causing trouble."

Wei Jinghai appeared calm on the surface, but a chill ran down his spine.

Upon returning to his residence, he convened a meeting of core executives overnight, ostensibly to reward meritorious service, to launch an investigation into any internal corruption.

The Lee Group's conference room was brightly lit.

Wei Jinghai opened the safe, and seven limited-edition watches gleamed against the velvet lining.

"Those who have made contributions to the crude oil project will be rewarded according to their contributions." He personally put on watches for six senior executives, but skipped Yu Qiong, the risk control director.

The female executive turned pale.

She was wearing the Cartier watch that Li Minxian had given her last week, and the strap suddenly felt as hot as a red-hot iron band.

"Is Director Yu unworthy?" CFO Wang Lei couldn't help but ask.

Wei Jinghai slowly locked the empty safe: "Director Yu's gift... is another matter."

After the meeting, Yu Qiong rushed to the restroom.

The reflection in the mirror showed her with exquisite makeup, yet her trembling lips were still visible.

She took out her phone, hesitating whether to delete all her call records with Li Minxian.

Suddenly, a "click" sound came from the cubicle—it was the sound of Wei Jinghai's lighter.

The lighter flame flickered. "Director Yu, do you want to be the Li family's dog, or my... partner?"

"Mr. Wei, I..."

……

After the "Internet Summit", Suning did not leave Hangzhou. Instead, it registered a financial company in Hangzhou and named it West Lake Financial.

Then, they directly allocated a large sum of money to the international crude oil futures market, which immediately caused a huge sensation in the industry.

When news of the explosion in the Strait of Malacca reached Suning, he was playing Go in his top-floor office at "West Lake Financial".

Black and white pieces battle it out on the kaya wood Go board, just like the surging tide of the Qiantang River outside the window.

"Mr. Su!" the trader rushed in. "BP's supertanker is on fire, and oil prices have surged by $8 per barrel!"

Pei Luoshen, her fiery red dress gleaming, leaned against the window: "The entire market is scrambling for long positions, we..."

"Close all positions at the high point." Suning placed a black piece. "All."

The office fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone was staring at this madman who was about to sell all 200 million barrels of crude oil futures he had bought at a low price three days earlier at the peak.

"Do as President Su says." Cai Yanzhi's voice came from the corner.

No one knows when she arrived; this mysterious woman always appears like a ghost.

Three hours later, when the last short order was executed at West Lake, international oil prices suddenly plummeted.

News Update: The Malacca incident was caused by arson; the tanker involved was only carrying ballast water.

Pei Luoshen's red fingernails dug deeply into her palm.

She witnessed firsthand how Suning netted $9.8 million in this high-stakes gamble.

All of this coincided perfectly with the timing of his secret meeting with a senior executive of the Malacca Shipping Company three days prior.

However, when news of the supertanker explosion in the Strait of Malacca suddenly broke, major financial companies immediately began buying.

However, West Lake Capital did the opposite, selling off large quantities of oil at its peak, which immediately drew ridicule from industry peers who called them fools.

Therefore, all the deals that West Lake Capital put forward were taken over.

……

In the abandoned auto repair shop, Jiao Ye's gold teeth gleamed blood-red under the dim light.

He kicked the silver suitcase that Wei Jinghai had brought, and the smell of ink from hundred-yuan bills mixed with the smell of engine oil hit him.

“Thirty million in cash, through Macau’s underground casinos.” Wei Jinghai gestured for the factory manager behind him to step forward. “Factory Manager Liu, add another twenty million.”

Jiao Ye stared at Factory Director Liu as if he were eyeing prey...

Then he grinned and looked at Wei Jinghai beside him, saying, "Old Wei, playing too big a game can easily backfire."

"The Fed will raise interest rates by 75 basis points next week," Wei Jinghai suddenly said. "The dollar index will break through 114."

Jiaoye's smile froze.

Even the "big shots" behind him might not have known about this level of inside information beforehand.

"Director Liu's money must leave the country tonight." Wei Jinghai glanced at his watch; the light reflected from the dial shone precisely into the shadows.

Manager He, the mole, was being held by two burly men with a smelly rag stuffed in his mouth.

Factory Director Liu's legs went weak.

He finally understood why Wei Jinghai insisted that he personally escort the cash—it was a pledge of loyalty.

……

Following this, Suning continued to allow West Lake to short international crude oil futures, which immediately caused another earthquake in the industry.

Upon learning that Xizihupan Company was planning to short crude oil, Li Zhijin angrily went to Su Ning's door to confront him.

Li Zhijin's high heels clattered loudly on the marble floor of the West Lake lobby.

The receptionist bowed for the third time: "I'm sorry, Mr. Li, Mr. Su is really in a meeting."

“Tell him,” Li Zhijin took off her sunglasses, her anger even more intense than her red lips, “that I can get Jufeng Capital to freeze all credit lines granted to Xizi Lake within three days.”

The elevator doors suddenly opened.

Pei Luoshen walked out gracefully, wearing a diamond necklace around her neck.

Li Zhijin recognized it as a rare item she had missed at an auction.

"Mr. Li, you have quite the temper," Pei Luoshen chuckled. "What a pity! Your grandfather never taught you how to be a true hunter..."

She leaned close to Li Zhijin's ear, her perfume cloyingly sweet: "...all are waiting quietly."

As Li Zhijin slammed the door and left, her phone received a margin call warning for crude oil futures.

The second round of short selling by West Lake caused Jufeng Capital's long positions to evaporate by 2.7 million yuan in an instant.

As night fell, Li Zhijin stood on the top floor of the Jufeng Building, feeding Suning's documents one by one into the shredder.

Amidst the swirling snowflakes of paper, she dialed a number she hadn't contacted in a long time: "Grandpa, I need to exercise the Chamber of Commerce's emergency voting rights."

Outside the window, the myriad lights of Hangzhou transformed into the smoke and fire of a battlefield in her eyes.

She didn't notice that in one of the newly painted decorations in the office, the eyes of a doll were faintly glowing red.

……

In the trunk of Jiao Ye's Rolls-Royce, cash was neatly stacked into a small mountain, covered with red roses air-freighted from Bulgaria.

He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses in the rearview mirror, deliberately covering the scar on his left eye, a memento from ten years ago when he shielded Pei Luoshen from a knife attack.

"Miss Pei, Mr. Jiao has been waiting for you for an hour," the bodyguard said humbly into the walkie-talkie.

On the top floor of the club, Pei Luoshen was applying lipstick in front of the mirror; the scarlet lipstick looked exactly like congealed blood.

“Tell him I’m meeting with an important client.” She pursed her lips, glancing at Su Ning on the bed behind her through the mirror. “Right, Mr. Su?”

Su Ning leaned against the headboard, shirtless, with red marks from her fingernails on her chest. "Who is Master Jiao?" he asked casually, swiping through his tablet, which displayed the real-time price movements of crude oil futures.

“A mad dog that’s been chasing me for ten years.” Pei Luoshen threw her lipstick into her Hermes bag, then suddenly turned around and straddled Su Ning’s lap. “Now… he might have his eye on you.”

The phone suddenly vibrated.

Surveillance footage showed Jiao Ye kicking over her reception desk, his gold teeth gleaming menacingly under the lights.

"Do you need me to handle this?" Su Ning's fingers wandered along the inside of her thigh, her tone as casual as if they were discussing a lunch menu.

Pei Luoshen's breath hitched.

She had seen countless men, but this was the first time she had felt this chilling excitement.

Beneath the nonchalant exterior of this young tycoon lies something chilling.

“I can do it myself.” She leaned down and bit Su Ning’s earlobe. “But tonight… you have to leave me with something to remember the night.”

"hiss……"

……

Inside the Li family's dojo, the sound of bamboo swords slicing through the air was like thunder.

Li Minxian's white hair was tied up, and the muscles in his forearms, visible beneath his kimono, were bulging, making him look nothing like an elderly man in his seventies.

"It's been twenty years since we last sparred." The old man pointed his bamboo knife directly at Wei Jinghai's throat. "Let me see how much you've improved."

Wei Jinghai knelt and bowed, but suddenly thrust forward the moment he looked up.

The bamboo sword blurred into a streak, aiming straight for Li Minxian's heart. The move was so ruthless that it didn't resemble swordsmanship at all, but rather street fighting.

"Clang!" The two blades clashed.

Li Minxian took three steps back to steady himself, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Every slash from Wei Jinghai was filled with a chilling killing intent, as if he were facing not a senior business associate, but his father's murderer.

"Back then, your father..." Just as Li Minxian was about to speak, Wei Jinghai's bamboo knife swept towards his temple.

The old man hastily blocked the attack, his hand going numb from the impact.

After three moves, Li Minxian suddenly changed his stance.

The two swords, like venomous snakes spitting their tongues, pressed against Wei Jinghai's waist from the left and right.

This is the very spot where Wei Mingyi suffered his fatal injury when he was beaten by a debt collection gang before he jumped off the building.

"You lost." The old man said calmly.

Wei Jinghai's pupils suddenly contracted.

Sweat trickled down his temples, and he suddenly realized that this was not a competition, but a warning.

Li Minxian told him: I know what you want to do, and I also know where your weaknesses are.

"Junior... admits defeat." Wei Jinghai prostrated himself, biting his teeth so hard that he tasted blood.

As I was leaving, the butler handed me a brocade box.

Inside was a Vacheron Constantin pocket watch, with a yellowed photograph embedded in the watch cover.

The young Li Minxian and Wei Mingyi stood arm in arm, with the "Minghai Industrial" signboard behind them.

“The master said that the item should be returned to its rightful owner,” the butler added meaningfully. “Manager He has already received another gift.”

Wei Jinghai gripped the pocket watch tightly, the steel edge cutting his palm.

He suddenly realized that Li Minxian was even more terrifying than he had imagined, and that he might have already been aware of his smuggling activities.

……

After the stunningly beautiful Pei Luoshen fell asleep, Su Ning walked out of the club feeling refreshed, it was nearly midnight.

The spring rain in Hangzhou made the bluestone pavement gleam. He refused the driver's offer and walked alone with his umbrella toward the West Lake Building not far away.

Five dark figures suddenly rushed out of the alleyway.

The scarred man leading the group brandished a butterfly knife: "Pretty boy, someone's paying for one of your hands."

The umbrella tip slowly rose, revealing Su Ning's ambiguous smile: "Master Jiao's man?"

Scarface was taken aback for a moment, then grinned maliciously: "Good to know!"

The glint of a blade sliced ​​through the rain.

Thirty seconds later, only groans remained in the alley.

Su Ning flicked the blood off the umbrella and stepped on the scarred man's wrist: "Tell Master Jiao..."

He leaned down, his voice eerily gentle, "Next time, send something decent."

The siren sounds from far to near.

Su Ning straightened his suit and walked out of the alley, just in time to run into Pei Luoshen, who was rushing over.

Her Maserati braked suddenly into a puddle, splashing her Chanel high heels wet.

"Are you alright?" She grabbed Su Ning's arm and noticed bloodstains on his sleeve.

Su Ning smiled and withdrew her hand: "Now you know fear?"

He stroked the back of her neck, the pressure somewhere between a caress and a threat. "Where's the sincerity?"

Pei Luoshen's breathing became rapid.

Raindrops dripped down her eyelashes, much like the tears glistening in her eyes when she was moved by love.

"Again? Aren't you full?"

"Of course! I want you to be my plaything."

"..."

……

In the trading hall of the West Lake Capital, sixty traders are watching crude oil futures data.

Li Zhijin's Jufeng Capital has been increasing its holdings for three consecutive days, pushing oil prices up to $82 per barrel.

"Mr. Su, should we continue shorting?" The trader by West Lake asked, his voice trembling. "Our paper losses are already..."

"Add to position." Suning stared at the main screen, which displayed a real-time satellite cloud image of the Strait of Malacca. "Triple leverage."

The entire trading department was completely silent.

Right now, everyone in the world is chasing the rise, but their boss is like a gambler who's lost everything.

At the same moment, cheers erupted throughout Jufeng Capital.

Oil prices broke through $83, and short positions near West Lake began to be liquidated.

"Keep eating!" Li Zhijin ordered, but suddenly frowned.

The chart shows subtle fluctuations, much like premature beats on an electrocardiogram.

She picked up the phone: "Check the news from the Middle East."

Before the words were even finished, an emergency news flash suddenly popped up on the main screen: Saudi Arabia announced the discovery of a super-large oil field with proven reserves of over 200 billion barrels.

Oil prices plummeted in response.

Jufeng Capital's trading department is in complete chaos.

Crude oil prices plummeted like an avalanche, quickly falling below the $80 mark.

"Close all positions! Close all positions!" Li Zhijin's scream drowned out the alarm.

The traders couldn't believe their ears; cutting losses now meant admitting defeat.

But when she smashed the third coffee cup, everyone started frantically selling off their coffee.

Wei Jinghai called: "Zhijin, this is just a normal technical correction!"

"Shut up!" Li Zhijin stared at the strange trading volume on the screen. "Someone is manipulating the market."

She pulled up the position chart of the West Lake area and suddenly realized something, her face turning pale: "They're using options to hedge... We've been tricked!"

When oil prices fell to $76, cheers erupted in the trading hall by West Lake.

Suning's short selling profits have exceeded two billion US dollars.

At that moment, Pei Luoshen was kneeling on the carpet in his office, her red lips touching the rim of the champagne glass he offered.

"To victory." Su Ning chuckled, pinching her chin.

"No! I have found the most powerful man."

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Hangzhou is ablaze with lights.

On the top floor of the Jufeng Building, Li Zhijin smashed the pocket watch that Wei Jinghai had given her against the wall.

...(End of chapter)